[INDUSTRY]Semiconductors and chips
We protect the device, the process that makes it and the chip's name, filed before samples ship. One flat fee for each step.
Your attorneys
Andrew RapackeManaging Partner · Registered Patent AttorneyElectrical and computer engineering. Former Naval Engineering Officer.
Ken BrooksRegistered Patent AttorneySoftware, AI and machine learning, electrical and mechanical systems.[01]Who it's for
From a fabless startup with its first tape-out to a supplier improving a process step, the work starts the same way. Find out what is new, then protect it before samples, papers or datasheets go out.
Teams designing processors, accelerators, memory and mixed-signal chips, protected before the first customer evaluation.
Transistors, diodes and modules in silicon, GaN and SiC, where a new structure or material is the advantage.
Tools, chemistries and materials that make fabrication faster, cleaner or more precise.
Chiplets, advanced packaging, interconnects and test methods, from the substrate to the final module.
[02]What's protectable
A semiconductor product carries several layers of protection. A patent on the device and how it is made, a design patent on how a package looks and a trademark on its name each stop a different kind of copy. The layout itself has its own right as a mask work.
01Utility patent
New transistor and memory structures, circuit designs and chip architectures. Claims are written around what your design does better than what ships today, such as lower leakage, higher density or less heat.
02Utility patent
Fabrication and packaging methods, claimed as process steps, along with the structure they produce, so a competitor has to avoid both the method and the result.
03Design patent
The ornamental design of a chip package, a module, a heat spreader or a development board, protected for 15 years from grant.
04Trademark
Clear and file the product family name before it goes on datasheets, packages and design wins, so the name engineers specify is one you can keep.
Some things stay secret
Process recipes, tool settings, yield data and test results no one can learn from the finished chip may be worth more as trade secrets than as published patents. Your attorney tells you which on your first call.
[03]The flat-fee path
Every step is quoted before any work begins, and the search fee is credited toward a design or non-provisional application. Most chip founders file a provisional before samples, a conference paper or a public datasheet, then the full application within 12 months.
01Start here
$999
Patentable or your money back. Credited toward a design or non-provisional application
Report in about 5 days
Not patentable, full refund*02Then
$2.5k–3.5k
Patent pending the day it is filed
Patentability issues, full refund*03Within 12 months
$7k–12k
Drawings and USPTO filing fees included
Filed before your 12-month deadline
Flat fee, not covered by the guaranteeAlongside the patent
*Refunds subject to the RLG Guarantee Policy in your engagement letter. Utility (non-provisional) patents are quoted flat and are not covered by the guarantee. How The RLG Guarantee works
[04]Process, layout and launch
A patent decides who can make and sell the device or use the process. A mask work registration protects the chip's layout itself from copying. Each one starts its own clock, and samples, papers and the first sale start them.
PatentWho can make and sell it
ChipWhen others see it
File before samples ship
An evaluation board sent to a customer, a conference paper, a public datasheet or a product announcement can make an invention public. The US gives you one year after your own disclosure, but most other countries do not. File at least a provisional first.
Under the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act, a chip's mask work is protected for 10 years from registration or first commercial use, whichever comes first, and must be registered within 2 years of that first use. It stops copying of the layout, not a different layout that does the same thing, so the device still needs a patent.
Copyright, patent or trademarkA fab recipe no one can learn from the finished chip may be worth more as a trade secret. When a process is patented in the US, importing chips made with it abroad, or selling them here, can still infringe, which makes process claims worth filing when you can detect their use.
Examples of trade secretsTransistors, memory and packaging have decades of patents and papers behind them. A search before drafting shows what is already known, so the claims cover what is actually new in your device or process.
How prior art can help your ideaGeneral information, not legal advice. Mask work rules, filing deadlines and foreign protection depend on the product, where it is made and where it is sold.
[05]Related services
One firm for the patent, the brand and the agreements around them.
[06]Questions
Still deciding? Your first call is free and comes with a straight answer on whether to file.
Book A Free Strategy CallYes. New device structures, circuits, architectures, materials and fabrication or packaging methods can be patented when they are new and not obvious. The field is crowded, so claims focus on what your design does that earlier ones do not, which is why the work starts with a search.
A mask work is the three-dimensional pattern of the layers on a chip. The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act protects it for 10 years from registration or first commercial use, whichever comes first, if it is registered with the US Copyright Office within 2 years of first commercial use. It covers copying of the layout, while others may still study a chip to design their own.
If competitors cannot learn the process from the finished chip and you cannot tell when they use it, a trade secret can last as long as it stays secret. If the process leaves evidence in the product, or chips made with it may be imported or sold in the US, a patent is often the better fit. Your attorney weighs it with you on the first call.
Before anything leaves your team without an NDA. Samples, evaluation boards, conference papers, public datasheets and product announcements can make an invention public. The US gives inventors one year after their own disclosure, but most other countries require filing first, so a provisional keeps both options open.
They protect different things. A utility patent protects how the device works and how it is made. A design patent protects how a package or module looks. A mask work registration protects the layout from copying. Many chip companies use all three.
Flat fees at every step. A $999 patentability search, a provisional application at $2,500 to $3,500 depending on the invention, and a non-provisional application at $7,000 to $12,000 with drawings and USPTO filing fees included. A design patent is $3,200. Every fee is quoted before work begins, and the search fee is credited toward a design or non-provisional application.
The patentability search, the provisional application, design patents and trademarks. If the search finds your invention is not novel, you get a full refund or another search. If patentability issues come up on your provisional, a full refund or more searches. If the USPTO denies your design application, you get a full refund. If it refuses your trademark, you get a refund or a new mark. Non-provisional applications are not covered. Refunds are subject to the RLG Guarantee Policy in your engagement letter.
[07]Learning Center
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[08]Client reviews
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Talk through your device or process with a registered patent attorney. The call is free, with no obligation.
